Is Absolute Fact more effective?
There are several "ideas" that can be demonstrated to be "False" but they still have value and should not be lightly dismissed.
The classic example is Aristotle's theory of "Spontaneous Generation" where vermin "spontaneously" arise from garbage or piles of rags. We learned in 7th grade biology that this was false. A pile of rags will remain free of mice unless a boy mouse gets "special feelings" for a girl mouse within that pile of rags.
The discussion comes full-circle if you study public health. There are ALWAYS romantic boy/girl mice and rats (and flies and mosquitoes and spirochete). That is not a "controllable" variable in urban and farm settings. Eliminating food sources and piles of rags IS a controllable variable and while it will not totally eliminate rodents, it makes a huge dent in the population.
So even though Aristotle's theory of Spontaneous Generation is easily proven to be false it still has tremendous utility in the real world.
Is Absolute Fact more cost effective?
"Pi" is not 3.14 and Pi/4* is not 0.8...but they are both less than 2% from actual and the computational efficiencies are useful for back-of-envelop doodling. (The cross-sectional area of a round bar or wire is Pi/4*(D^2).)
Is Absolute Fact tinsel for a drama queen?
Some people enjoy arguing (aka "Trolls"). They must like the attention. Maybe it makes them feel like they are alive. I don't care. I find people who love to argue to be tiresome. I subscribe to Dale Carnegie's contention that you can never WIN an argument. You may prevail in a very narrow sense of the word but it comes at a higher cost.
As part of an essay I might make the statement "The sun rises in the east" as a springboard for some point.
The drama-queen or the person with a high need for dominance will immediately launch into "That statement is demonstrably false. The sun only rises in the east two mornings a year between the Arctic and Antarctic Circles and it only rises in the south at the North Pole and in the north at the South Pole."
"Your entire essay is bullshit because I shredded one of your foundational premises."
Ok. Fine. Have it your way.
Entertainment value
I have a decided bias toward making my posts entertaining. A post that is entertaining will be remembered. Any information in the essay that is useful, even if it is not totally Factual, will be more accessible if the essay was entertaining.
If I have a reader who is 50:50 on a topic and, if after reading one of my post has three pertinent questions or if they shift to 60:40...or 40:60 then I think I did a decent job.
Internet trolls can be either entertaining or annoying. And it's generally a matter of choice as to how we view them. But humans being what they are there will always be trolls.
ReplyDelete...referring back to Aristotle's theory of Spontaneous Generation.
DeleteSigh! Thanks for the reminder.
Many of your posts are thoughtful and engaging. Its obvious you spend a not-insignificant amount of time researching and/or contemplating your subject, and how best to word it.
ReplyDeleteWe are all immeasurably better off due to your efforts, even if it is only to satisfy our own ego.
22/7 is more accurate than 3.14 but that's from back in the pre calculator days.
ReplyDeleteSorry Joe - I thought we were just talking. No offence meant… I ‘ll show myself out…
ReplyDeleteHell, if I stated "The sun rises in the east", everyone would look to the west.
ReplyDeleteThe speed of light isn't 300e6 m/s but close enough the difference rarely matters (for example: wavelengths for antennas)
Your posts are both informative and entertaining.
Was speaking with a priest about a book called The Complete Visions of Anne Catherine Emmerich, an Augustinian nun. He posited the idea that...If it is a good story, and it isn't true; well then by gurn it OUGHT to be true.
ReplyDeleteThat's how I roll when consuming the product you offer here.
And I keep coming back for more.
You really ought to conduct a customer satisfaction survey, Joe.
I love yah.
Milton
ERJ - Some people like to argue for the sake of arguing. I have never understood the concept as that particular brand of thinking is less interested in achieving true knowledge than simply presenting their opinion and grinding it into the ground.
ReplyDeleteIt seldom, if ever, convinces those of opposing opinions
I don't want to argue JUST to argue, I find it tiresome. However I frequently find myself taking a contentious or opposing point of view from whatever the group consensus happens to be just because a) I'm kinda ornery and b) I want to test whether the group consensus is actually defendable. Sort of a Devil's advocate methodology. I do take care to avoid troll-like behavior.
ReplyDeletePhysics prof first day of class: I don't care if your calculator display is twelve digits, anything more than three is a waste and I don't have time to waste.
ReplyDelete3 digits for class maybe but professionally I've had occasion to need 5-6. Sometimes 3rd-order Taylors Series. It does well to teach students when and when not high precision is necessary. Sometimes "it" isn't reduced to zero or one.
DeleteYou keep it real Joe. Your "have you ever thought this out" is an invitation to learn something regardless of the number of decimal points. I will note that I married a woman of German descent. Forced me to go to the third decimal point in my thinking. Neither of us are engineers just to clear that up. Roger
ReplyDelete